Why Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker‘s Editor was on set
When J.J. Abrams stepped back into the director’s chair for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, he had many daunting obstacles ahead. One was the fact that he was stepping in fairly late in the process—Colin Trevorrow was initially meant to helm the film. Another challenge was the sheer burden of taking on the very last film in the epic, 9-part Skywalker saga. How will the story deal with Rey (Daisy Ridley)’s parentage?...
Sharp Objects & Big Little Lies Production Designer on Creating Signature Worlds
If you had not one but two critically acclaimed HBO series under your belt, you’d be permitted to gloat. If those series were wildly different yet deliciously unforgettable, you might even be expected to brag a little. But that’s not production designer John Paino‘s way. The laidback pro was happy to discuss his work on Sharp Objects and Big Little Lies without any unnecessary braggadocio. With Big Little Lies back for season two,...
How Dark Phoenix‘s Key Costumer Handled a Mutant Wardrobe
Co-writer and director Simon Kinberg’s Dark Phoenix was a very different kind of X-Men film for a variety of reasons. One is the fact that he removed X-Men from the title altogether. This was done to put the focus squarely on the troubled shoulders of Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), whose evolution, so to speak, into the titular Dark Phoenix is the film’s central storyline. Yet despite removing the name of the mutant super-group from the title,...
Mindy Kaling & Nancy Meyers on Writing, Producing & More
With a history just over a decade old, the “Produced By” conference in L.A. is a gathering that promises, if not exactly unfettered access, at least a chance to be in the same room with many accomplished producers, and hyphenates: producer-actors, producer-directors, etcetera.
Run by the Producers Guild, and currently hosted on the Warner Brothers backlot (an “above the line” analog to the Cine Gear show held at Paramount, the week before), admission ain’t exactly cheap...
Quentin Tarantino On What His Star Trek Will be Like
Right now film lovers await Quentin Tarantino‘s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. His most recent movie—his ninth—has already garnered some rave reviews after bowing at the Cannes Film Festival. All Tarantino films are big events—he takes his time, releasing a fresh movie every few years. The giddy, retro Once Upon a Time in Hollywood features Leonardo DiCaprio as a fading star in 1969 Hollywood and positions him, and his longtime stunt double (played by Brad Pitt,...
First Full Frozen II Trailer Reveals Dangerous Journey for Elsa & Anna
Yesterday, Disney shared with us a slightly more fullsome synopsis for the long-awaited Frozen 2. Today, the Mouse House has done us one better and released the film’s official trailer, giving us a longer glimpse at Elsa and Anna’s upcoming adventures outside of Arendelle. This new trailer expands on the gorgeous but plot light teaser Disney released last February.
The trailer once again opens with Elsa attempting to scale giant waves by freezing them...
More of Frozen 2‘s Story is Finally Revealed
When Disney unveiled the trailer for Frozen 2 this past February, it had been (shockingly) six years since we last saw Elsa and Anna. Frozen was a juggernaut success, one of the most successful animated films in history. The children (and their parents) who were so enthralled with “Let It Go” and the story of Elsa and Anna have grown up since then, but we’re guessing there’s going to be just as much excitement for Frozen 2. ...
Clever Interactive Timeline Explains Avengers: Endgame Time-Traveling
If you found yourself a little confused during Avengers: Endgame‘s time-traveling, you weren’t alone. While directors Joe and Anthony Russo and their editor Jeffrey Ford did a great job of tying the myriad eras together, it was still a bit of a challenge to stay on top of where, or really when, everyone was. Not only that, the Avengers time-traveling meant that they were meddling with the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe...
Watch Jean Grey Battle Magneto in Dark Phoenix Scene Breakdown
In the world of the X-Men, Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and Professor X (James McAvoy) serve as mutant whisperers, only they do so to very different ends. For the good Professor, he teaches and counsels mutants, young and old, in an attempt to both nurture their gifts and make them respectable members of the community. For the often very bad Magneto, he takes in wayward mutants and nurtures their talents for chaos-making, enlisting them in his longstanding war with humanity...
Production Designer Akin McKenzie on Recreating Reality in When They See Us
When They See Us, Ava DuVernay’s four-part series on the 25-year aftermath of a 1989 rape and assault that took place in Central Park, was originally going to be titled Central Park Five. That moniker quickly became the shorthand for the five boys from Harlem — four African-American, one Latino — who were wrongly accused and convicted of the attack. Instead of a name reflecting only how these teenagers were viewed by the media and public,...
Meet the Man Who Provided the Vintage Props for The Sopranos Prequel
When a movie takes place in the past the filmmakers have to recreate a whole bygone world. We might not notice if a telephone, neon sign, or cash register is right for the period, but if it’s wrong it can be a distraction. Prop Specialties provides all kinds of items to film and television productions set any time in the 20th century and even in the present, as most settings today include older or vintage items. Their specialty is providing props that really work so that when a character puts a coin in a vending machine,...
Jordan Peele Hails Ari Aster’s new Horror Film Midsommar
If you’re getting to get praise from a fellow writer/director, Ari Aster truly couldn’t have done better than Get Out and Us mastermind Jordan Peele. Aster shocked the filmgoing world last year with his directorial debut Hereditary, and now he’s back with Midsommar. The former was a terrifying hellscape of shadows, miniatures, and the misery of cruel heritage, while the latter looks like a sunlight nightmare...
Is a Halloween Sequel in the Works?
Is the indomitable Laurie Strode coming back? David Gordon Green’s critical and commercial smash Halloween reminded fans of the original franchise why they fell in love with Strode in the first place. Played by the great Jamie Lee Curtis, Strode once again faced down the lunatic masked killer Michael Myers in one of 2018’s great horror films (and there were quite a few.) Super producer Jason Blum, the head of Blumhouse Productions,...
Longtime X-Men Scribe Simon Kinberg on Directing Dark Phoenix
He wrote Sherlock Holmes, produced The Martian and guided six X-Men movies to fruition from his vantage point as a writer and producer. But Simon Kinberg never actually directed anything until he took the reins of Dark Phoenix. Opening Friday, June 7, the movie reunites X-Men fixtures Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, and Michael Fassbender along Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones), playing Jean Grey,...
Godzilla: King of the Monsters Director Reveals Film’s Easter Eggs & More
Spoiler alert for Godzilla: King of the Monsters.
If you’ve seen Godzilla: King of the Monsters, then you’ve witnessed one of the biggest Godzilla spectacle films ever made. Godzilla fights two very ferocious titans, in King Ghidorah and Rodan, and he fights them a few times. We talked to production designer Scott Chambliss about creating these epic brawls, and he gave us great insight into how and why each monster was given its own specific origin point...
Diana Gets Gold Armor in new Wonder Woman 1984 Poster
Folks were fairly bummed out yesterday when they learned that Warner Bros. would be skipping the Hall H panels at San Diego Comic-Con this year. But then director Patty Jenkins stepped into the breach, so to speak, to offer up a new glimpse at our favorite Amazonian warrior princess. Behold the first poster for Wonder Woman 1984. It’s a thing of golden beauty.
By now you’ve heard: WB isn’t going to Hall H this year. We’re so sad to miss you there!...
New Dark Phoenix Clip Suggests Changing the Team’s Name to X-Women
In a brand new clip from Dark Phoenix, Jennifer Lawrence’s Raven (really better known as Mystique) gives Professor X (James McAvoy) a piece of her mind. The moment takes place directly after the space rescue mission that the Professor sends the X-Men on to save some stranded astronauts. A strange cosmic accident occurs during the mission, and Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) comes into contact with a stellar force that imbues her with massive new powers...
Getting a Mutant Makeover With Dark Phoenix‘s Makeup Department Head
Dark Phoenix is the last film in the nearly two-decade-old X-Men franchise. Yet by dropping X-Men from the title, co-writer/director Simon Kinberg, one of the franchise’s most tenured creatives, put the focus squarely on Jean Grey (Sophie Turner). The film is centered on a space rescue mission gone horribly awry, and the resultant transformation of Jean Grey from an already potent member of the X-men into the titular cosmic force with nearly unimaginable powers...
How Rocketman Soundtrack Mixer Evoked Elton John’s State of Mind
What does a nervous breakdown sound like? To be more specific, how can audio be manipulated to approximate Elton John’s headspace when he overdoses midway through the fantastical bio-pic Rocketman? That’s the kind of question re-recording mixer Mike Prestwood Smith faced on a daily basis while shaping the sonic highs and lows embodied by Taron Egerton‘s portrayal of the iconic piano man. Rocketman director Dexter Fletcher also helped make the Queen bio-pic Bohemian Rhapsody but takes a distinctly different approach to the subject of rock stardom this time around...
Brad Pitt Heads to Deep Space in First Ad Astra Trailer
You always want to pay attention when James Gray releases a new film. The director of the vastly underrated The Lost City of Z (2016) and the equally vastly underrated The Immigrant (2013) has been working on his sci-fi film Ad Astra for years. The story follows astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) who voyages to the far reaches of the solar system to track down his missing father,...
